Canada – Women-Led Mixed Gender Prayer in Honour of International Women’s Day
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: July 9, 2007
(TORONTO, CANADA) Asserting that men and women have equal status under Islam,
the first woman-led mixed prayer in honour of International Women’s Day was held
recently in Toronto. Pamela Taylor, a convert to Islam and the co-founder of
Muslims for Progressive Values, based in Los Angeles, led the prayer. Muslims
gather on Fridays for their weekly congregational service. The service was
organized by the newly formed Canadian Muslim Union.
Afterwards, Herizons interviewed Taylor about the movement for Muslim women’s
rights.
Herizons: What was the significance of holding the Juma on International
Women’s Day?
Pamela Taylor: Pamela Taylor: International Women’s Day is about
bringing into focus problems that women are facing. Holding a mixed-gender,
woman-officiated Friday service in honour of International Women’s Day places
the movement solidly within the context of the greater feminist movement.
It represents a step toward normalizing women-led prayers. My belief is that
when women leading prayers, and serving as imams, becomes commonplace, it will
have an impact on the way our community views and treats women in general.
Herizons: Is this Friday prayer about reclaiming sacred mosque space for
Muslim women?
Pamela Taylor: Absolutely. The mosque is called the House of God. How
can women be excluded from any part of it?
Most mosques don’t allow women to pray in the main prayer hall, and often the
women’s section is overcrowded, the sound system is spotty, children are running
wild making it impossible to concentrate. I’ve been to mosques where I was
expected to go around back, down the dark alley, past the dumpsters, to get to
the door to the women’s section. This is disgraceful! How can we treat women
like this in the House of God!
Yes, it is reclaiming, as the Prophet appointed a woman from amongst his
followers as a prayer leader for her area. It challenges the idea that we are
secondary in the mosque, that our participation is unimportant. You can bet that
in a mosque where a woman is imam, women are not going to be relegated to some
back room where they can’t hear! It is significant that men and women have
prayed side by side…sometimes in two separate areas – women on the right, men on
the left, and sometimes in integrated rows – but never with women relegated to
an inferior place to the men.
Herizons: What is the reasoning for excluding women from leading
prayers?
Pamela Taylor: Many Muslims these days have become totally obsessed
with putting limits on male-female interaction. This is one reason for the
resurgence of the niqab. It’s why so many mosques have separate rooms for women,
or have put curtains across the main prayer hall so men and women can’t see each
other, despite the fact that the Prophet never had that kind of arrangement in
his mosque.
Herizons: What impact do women-led prayers have on non-Muslim
communities?
Pamela Taylor: I think it makes them feel much, much more comfortable
knowing that there are Muslims dealing with similar issues [as they] deal with.
I feel a particularly strong sense of empathy from Catholic women who are going
through much of the same struggle within their own faith community.
Herizons: What did you hope to accomplish by leading this prayer?.
Pamela Taylor: There is a need for visible, public events to encourage
others to join in the bandwagon, to keep applying some pressure to the
community, to establish a normalcy for women-led prayers in the public sphere,
not just as some hush-hush, backroom, this-is-what-my group-does, but as a
celebration of women’s spiritual power, of their contribution to our community
as spiritual teachers and leaders.
Herizons: What were your greatest rewards and fears?
Pamela Taylor: As for fears, I really didn’t have any. When women led
prayers in 2005, there were some threats the event would be picketed, but
nothing ever materialized. In 2006, there were barely any ripples in the
community.
Amina Wadud (the first woman to lead a mixed Muslim prayer in New York in
2005) got quite a bit of flak, but I think people who are opposed to it have
become resigned to the fact that a group of us are going to be doing this for
some time.
A lot of women – and men – said to me, “I didn’t want to ever pray at a
mosque before because I felt I didn’t belong, but at this prayer, I feel I
belong.”
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